370 THE OCEAN. 



to terrestrial plants. Two species in particular, 

 named from this resemblance Sargassum aqw'foliiim 

 and S. ilicifolinm, so closely imitate our common 

 holly in their branches, berries, and twisted spinous 

 leaves, as to induce a belief, at the first glance, that 

 they are no other than sprigs of that familiar plant. 

 Another species, found in the same locality, is called 

 S. Taxifolium, from its likeness to the yew. The 

 former are highly interesting on another account: 

 they afford a remarkable illustration of the fact, 

 that the seed -receptacles of some sea-plants are 

 metamorphosed after the discharge of their seeds into 

 leaves and air-vessels. Few would suspect that the 

 round air-cells, that look like green berries, or the 

 curled and thorny leaves, were alike the slender pro- 

 cesses containing the seed, only in another stage of 

 development; yet specimens are often found in 

 which the process is actually going on, both the one 

 and the other being but partially transformed. The 

 pores with which the surface of the leaves are stud- 

 ded, are but the orifices through which the seeds* 

 escaped. 



As we approach the Cape of Good Hope, the sea« 

 birds peculiar to high latitudes again appear, and 

 the sea and air are enlivened by myriads of gulls, 

 terns, petrels, frigate-birds, and albatrosses. But 

 among them we have yet to notice one pre-eminent 

 among them, a master-fisher, which, for its powers 

 of consuming the finny prey, is perhaps unrivalled. 

 It is the Pelican (Pelicanus onocrotalus), which 

 abounds all around the shores of the Indian Ocean, 

 ranging to the distance of several hundred miles 



